Aurora Harris: March 21, 2010- Passing Thoughts

March 21, 2010 10:20 am EST

I have been awake since 8:00 a.m. This morning I added more links to the blog: Lucille Clifton, June Jordan, and the Kundiman Asian American Poetry site. I went outside for a few minutes and found that it is very cold outside. I saw one, bright red cardinal sitting amidst the bare branches of a tree...a sign that spring is coming.

On Friday, I was able to find a contact phone number of friends of mine that I haven't seen since 2005. It was nice to hear that they have continued working on their art. The husband, who is an M.D. and poet, has gone into abstract painting. The wife, who is an educator and poet, is coming out with a new book of poetry and a poetry cd. In hindsight, it was good to talk about what has taken place in our lives in the past five years. As poets and artists, we have managed to still create despite our busy schedules.

On Thursday, March 18th, I visited with my mother, who has managed to stay alive through a series of illnesses, despite the death sentence given by doctors last month. After visiting with Mom, I went to U of M-Dearborn to sit on the "Inspiring Hope, Inspiring Change" panel that included Gerry Barrons of the Veteran Feminists of America; Minsu Longiaru, a lawyer and community organizer for Restaurant Opportunities Center; and Marion Kramer of the National Welfare Rights Union. Lolita Hernandez, Labor activist and author was the Moderator. Marion is also on the US Social Forum Coordinating Committee. It was so inspiring to hear the histories of what inspired us to be actvists. The event was a success! We had a chance to tell the audience about our lives, the work we have done from past to present, and had a Q & A session with the audience. I felt uplifted and inspired by listening to each speaker. By being included on an intergenerational panel, I was able to draw strength from women that represented past, current and future dedication to social activism. The audience of students and folks from the community were able to share their views and expressed wanting to get involved in community work. I shared the poem that I wrote for last Sunday's US Social Forum event at Central United Methodist Church, titled "Perhaps". The poem is more of a prose poem that illustrates the conditions that citizens of Detroit are facing, some of the generational history of activism that has taken place by those involved in community work, and the fact that we still have HOPE in Detroit, which is in opposition to what Minsu was told by others before she came here as an organizer. During Minsu's presentation, she pointed out that people questioned why she would even come to Detroit to organize...basically, the picture that was drawn for her was one of hopelessness, which of course is not true. The City Of Detroit is full of hope. The fact that Detroit has a history of activism is one of the reasons why the US Social Forum is coming in June...folks are hopeful that another world is possible!

I imagine that when anything good and positive that goes on in Detroit by it's citizens and community workers are put on the backseat or is subjugated by most sources of local and national media, and those who profit monetarily or by recognition by exploiting the condition of the city and its citizens, one would have a hopeless picture. In the late 1990's, after "graduating" as a  Cultural Ambassador from New Detroit's first Multicultural Immersion classes, I made a commitment to talk about the good things that happen in Detroit. As a poet-educator, even though many of my poems address harsh realities from a broad perspective of African American and Filipino life, by writing the poems I hoped and still hope that they will inspire readers and listeners to become active in changing or transforming their own lives as well as the lives of others. I (re)member now, as I write, that when I was a Sociology student at Wayne State University, one of my professors encouraged the class to be agents of Social change. Years later, when I was a corporate worker and was injured by my job, and decided to work as a full time poet, I decided that much of my poetry would be written so that people would have to at least consider the socio-political-global power and the effects of institutions, systems, individuals and groups that render children and adults homeless, hungry, battered, illiterate, murdered, raped, tortured, exploited as workers, suffering or dying from utility shut off...why women are still fighting to be heard, recognized and receive equal wages...As I write, I (re)member being on a local cable network's poetry show in the 1990's and the host, after hearing my poems stated: Well, you certainly don't write happy poems! I wish I could find the video tape of that session. I (re)member saying that I write about life and what I have witnessed around me. I even wrote a poem that is a parody of that session that included her statement, with repeating lines about not writing "nice" or "happy" poems. With all of this stated, I'd like to say that I have written a few "nice" poems about love, nature, food, family members,travelling, and other subjects.

It is now 11:45 a.m. and in 3 hours, I will be hosting The Broadside Press Poets Theater at U of D-Mercy.

March 20, 2010: Broadside Press Poets Theater Sunday 3/21/10

Broadside Press Poets Theater

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Broadside Press Poets Theater resumes every third Sunday of the month from 3pm - 6pm at the Grounds Coffee Haus,  lower level of U of D-Mercy Student Union. The campus is located on McNichols and Livernois

There is no featured reading tomorrow. We will have an Open Mic, Reading of Works In Progress for feedback, and bring poems by Lucille Clifton to read, to celebrate her life. Ms Clifton passed away last month. Ms Clifton's poems can be found at
http://www.poemhunter.com/lucille-clifton/


Thank you!
Aurora Harris 313. 673.6313

March 18, 2010: Aurora is on a Community Activist Panel at U of M Dearborn

The presentation of my Master's paper went very well at U of D Mercy this past Tuesday night. The panel discussion and Q & A session with Dr. House, Lolita Hernandez, the audience and me generated really good questions about the commitment of academia to hire more minority faculty, the difference between talking about social justice and actually doing social activism, and the isolating and exclusion experiences of minority students. In this day and age, are minority faculty and students still facing racism, sexism, discrimination, exclusionary practices as racial, ethnic and female minorities? What prevents a larger group of primarily white faculty from pressuring the academy to hire more minority faculty? What are the risks? Who do minority students turn to when faced with racism, discrimination and exclusion from faculty, advisors or other students? Why does it take an African American woman with three academic degrees 30 years to get her project recognized, taken seriously and put into production? How can students get invoked in social Activism?

Tonight, I will be on another panel to discuss the roles and activities of community actvists at the University of MI Dearborn: 7 pm. 1072 CASL Bldg. The campus is on Evergreen Road across from the Fairlane shopping mall in Dearborn, MI

Inspiring Hope, Inspiring Change: Detroit's Progressive Women Activists

Moderator:  Lolita Hernandez, labor activist and author

Gerry Barrons, Veteran Feminists of America and former CEO,  Inforum
Minsu Longiaru, lawyer and community organizer for Restaurant Opportunities Center
Aurora Harris, educator and Activist Poet
Marion Kramer, National Welfare Rights Union and U.S. Social Forum coordinating committee

7 pm, 1072 CASL building

sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program
For more information contact Suzanne Bergeron, sbergero@umich.edu

March 2010: Aurora's Poetry Readings and Presentations in March

Sunday March 14, 2010: For Angie Smith's event for the U.S Social Forum.Central United Methodist Church on Woodward and Adams in downtown Detroit. 4pm-8pm See this link: http://ussf2010.org/
Another World is Possible Concert

Date: 
Sun, 2010-03-14 23:00 - Mon, 2010-03-15 03:00
Location: Central United Methodist Church (23 E. Adams, Detroit)

The concert is hosted by the USSF Faith and Spirituality Committee, and guest performers include Aurora Harris, The Workshop Dancers, African Dance troupe, Take No Prisoners reggae group, United Voices of Detroit Choir, Lynn Marie Smith, Wardell Montgomery Jr., Jim Perkinson, Paul Robeson Chorale, and Gardenia.

Tuesday: March 16 at U of D Mercy Presidential Room
I will be presenting my Masters Paper from 7pm-9pm with the activist educators that I interviewed, Dr. Gloria House and Lolita Hernandez. Unfortunately Emily Lawsin and Michele Gibbs will not be able to attend.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 7:00-9:00pm 
the UDM Women’s and Gender Studies Program
presents

"Female-Artist-Scholar-Activist"?
What is that?

 President’s Dining Room, Student Center, Second Floor
U of Detroit Mercy, McNichols Campus
Free and open to the public, Refreshments

Are academia and activism incompatible? Can your art inform your politics? Your politics your art? What motivates artists and educators to spend their lives working for social justice? Why is there so little information available on the lives of minority women who choose to do so? What strategies and inspirations can today’s young artists, activists, and educators draw from their experiences?

Ms. Aurora Harris will discuss these and other intriguing questions in a presentation drawn from her interview-based study of the consciousness-shaping experiences and lives of Ms. Michele Gibbs (Russell), Ms. Lolita Hernandez, Dr. Gloria House, and Ms. Emily Lawsin--four minority women artists and educators deeply engaged in our local, national, and international struggles over race, gender, and class.
Ms. Harris’s talk will be followed by roundtable with Ms. Hernandez, Dr. House, and Ms. Lawsin and an audience discussion. For more information contact Rosemary Weatherston, Co-Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program (weatherr@udmercy.edu  / 313.993.1083).

About the Speaker:

Aurora Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan and is of African American Filipina heritage. She received a M.A. in Social Foundations of Education with a concentration in Cultural Studies from Eastern Michigan University and a B.A. in Sociology from Wayne State University. Ms Harris is an award winning, internationally known published poet, educator, mentor, and community worker. Her poetry regarding women, labor, jazz, African American and Filipino life appears in several poetry anthologies. Ms Harris serves as a Board member for Broadside Press and is the hostess of the Broadside Press Poets’ Theater at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

Women of Color Women of Words critical resources

Here is an African American poetry and criique site that has many resources: http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~cybers/critical.html

women of color women of words
critical resources



This is an alphabetical listing of resources which contain critical as well as biographical information about the writers featured in this site. Please consult the individual writers' pages for the titles which mention that playwright specifically. Books marked with the Amazon.com logo or book jacket are available for sale; just click on the link to go to their page at the Amazon.com site.





[F] [M] [S]
African-American Almanac. Gale Research, 1994.
African American Encyclopedia. Michael W. Williams (Ed.). Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1993.
African American Theatre: An Historical and Critical Analysis. Samuel A. Hay. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. Dorothy C. Salem (Ed.). Garland, 1993.
African American Women Playwrights: A Research Guide. Christy Gaven (Ed.). Garland, 1999.
African American Writers: Profiles of Their Lives and Works from the 1700s to the Present. Valerie Smith, Lea Baechler, and A. Walton, eds. Collier Books, 1993.
Afro-American Literature: Drama. Houghton Mifflin, 1970.
Afro-American Poetry and Drama, 17760-1975. Genevieve Fabre. Gale Research, 1979.
Afro-American Women Writers, 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide. Ann Allen Shockley (Ed.). G.K. Hall, 1988.
Afro-American Writers After 1955. Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris (Eds.). Gale Research, 1985.
All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave: Black Women's Studies. Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith (Eds.). The Feminist Press, 1982.
American Black Women in the Arts and Social Sciences: A Bibliographic Survey. Ora Williams. Scarecrow Press, 1994.
American Drama Since World War II. Gerald Weales. Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1962.
American Literature: A Study and Research Guide. Lewis Leary. St. Martin's Press, 1976.
The American Negro Reference Book. John P. Davis. Prentice-Hall, 1966.
American Plays and Playwrights of the Contemporary Theatre. Allan Lewis. Crown, 1965.
American Playwrights Since 1945: A Guide to Scholarship, Criticism, and Performances. Greenwood, 1989.
American Women Dramatists of the Twentieth Century: A Bibliography. Brenda Coven. Scarecrow, 1982.
The American Woman Playwright: A View of Criticism and Characterization. Judith Olauson. Whitson, 1981.
American Women Playwrights, 1900-1950. Yvonne Shafer. Peter Lang Publishing, 1995.
A Bibliographical Guide to African-American Women Writers. Casper LeRoy Jordan (Compiler). Greenwood Press, 1993.
Black American Playwrights: 1800 to the Present: A Bibliography. Esther Spring Arata and Nicholas John Rotoli. Scarecrow Press, 1976.
Black American Women Poets and Dramatists. Harold Bloom, ed. Chelsea House, 1996.
Black American Writers Past and Present: A Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary. Teressa Gunnels Rich, Carol Fairbanks Myers, and Esther Spring Arata. Scarecrow Press, 1975.
Black Drama: An Anthology. William Brasmer and Dominick Consolo (Eds). Charles E. Merrill, 1990.
Black Drama in America: An Anthology. Darwin T. Turner (Ed.). Howard University Press, 1994.
Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theatre. Loften Mitchell. Hawthorn Books, 1967.
Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays before 1950. Kathy A. Perkins (Ed). Indiana University Press, 1989.
Black Images in the American Theatre. Leonard C. Archer. Pageant-Poseidon, 1973.
Black Playwrights, 1823-1977: An Annotated Bibliography of Plays. James V. Hatch and Omanii Abdullah (Eds). R. R. Bowker Company, 1977.
Black Poets of the United States. Jean Wagner. University of Illinois Press, 1973.
Black Theatre Directory. Addell Austin Anderson (Ed.). Black Theatre Network, 1993.
Black Theatre in America. James Haskins. Thomas Crowell, 1982.
Black Theatre in the 1960's and 1970s. Mance Williams. Greenwood, 1985.
Black Theatre, USA: Forty-Five Plays by American Negroes, 1847-1974. James V. Hatch. Free Press, 1974.
Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Darlene Clark Hine (Ed.). Carlson Pub, 1993.
Black Women Writers (1950): A Critical Evaluation. Marti Evans (Ed). Doubleday-Anchor, 1984.
Black Women Writers at Work. Claudia Tate (Ed). Continuum, 1983.
Black Writers: A Selection of Sketches from Contemporary Author. Sharon Malinowski (Ed). Gale, 1993.
Broadside Memories: Poets I Have Known. Dudley Randall. Broadside Press, 1975.
Broken Silences: Interviews with Black and White Women Writers. Shirley M. Jordan. Rutgers University Press, 1993.
But Some of Us are Brave: Black Women's Studies. Gloria T. Hull, P.B. Scott, and Barbara Smith, eds. Feminist Press, 1982.
The Cambridge Companion to American Women Playwrights. Brenda Murphy, ed. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Children's Literature Review, v.14. Gale, 1988.
Children's Novels and the Movies. Douglas Street (Ed). Ungar, 1983.
Color, Sex, and Poetry: Three Women Writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Gloria T. Hull. Indiana University Press, 1987.
Confrontation and Commitment: A Study of Contemporary American Drama. C.W.E. Bigsby, ed. University of Missouri Press, 1969.
Contemporary African American Female Playwrights. Dana A. Williams. Greenwood Publishing, 1998.
Contemporary Authors. Gale, 1991.
Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays: A Biographical Dictionary and Dramatic Index. Bernard L. Peterson (Ed). Greenwood Press, 1988.
Contemporary Black Biography. Barbara Carlisle Bigelow (Ed). Gale, 1994.
Contemporary Black Drama. Clinton Oliver and Stephanie Sills (Ed). Charles Scribners, 1971.
Contemporary Dramatists. Thomas Riggs, editor. St. James Press, 1999.
Contemporary Literary Criticism, v.5, v.8, v.25, v.38, v.86. Gale, 1976.
Contemporary Plays by Women of Color. Kathy A. Perkins and Roberta Uno (Eds.) Routledge Press, 1995.
Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. Gale, 1984-.
Contemporary Women Dramatists. K.A. Berney, editor. St. James Press, 1994.
Conversations with Toni Morrison. Danille Taylor-Guthrie, ed. University Press of Mississippi, 1994.
The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual. Harold Cruse. William Monow and Co, 1984.
Current Biography. H. W. Wilson, 1946.
The Curtain and the Veil-Strategies in Black Drama. Keyssar, Helene. B. Franklin, 1981.
Deadly Triplets: A Theatre Mystery and Journal. Adrienne Kennedy. University of Minnesota Press, 1990.
Dictionary of Literary Biography v.7: Twentieth-Century American Dramatists. Gale, 1981.
Dictionary of Literary Biography v.38: Afro-American Writers After 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers. Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris (Eds). Gale, 1985.
Dictionary of Literary biography, v.41: Afro-American Poets Since 1955. Gale, 1985.
Dictionary of the Black Theatre. Allen Woll. Greenwood Press, 1983.
Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture v. 5: African American Culture. Sndar Adell, editor. Gale, 1996.
Directory of Blacks in the Performing Arts. Edward Mapp. Scarecrow Press, 1990.
Dissertations Concerning Black Theatre. Rhonnie Washington (Ed.). Black Theatre Network, 1992.
Diving Deep and Surfacing: Women Writers on Spiritual Quest. Carol P. Christ. Beacon Press, 1980.
Drama Criticism, v.4. Gale, 1991.
Drumbeats, Masks and Metaphors: Contemporary Afro-American Theatre. Genevieve Fabre. Harvard University Press, 1983.
Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry, A Critical History. Eugene B. Redmon. Anchor, 1976.
Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers: A Biographical Directory and Catalog of Plays, Films, and Broadcasting Scripts. Bernard L. Peterson. Greenwood Press, 1990.
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History v.2 Jack Salzman, editor. Simon and Schuster MacMillan, 1995.
Epic Lives: One Hundred Black Women Who Made a Difference. Jessie C. Smith, ed. Visible Ink Press, 1993.
Essays on Contemporary American Drama. Hedwig Bock and Albert Wertheim, eds. M. Hueber, 1981.
[Top][M][S]



Facts On File Encyclopedia of Black Women in America: Theater Arts and Entertainment (Vol. 9). Darlene Clark Hine, ed. Facts on File, 1997.
Female Dramatist: Profiles of Women Playwrights from the Middle Ages to Contemporary Times. Elaine T. Partnow with Lesley Anne Hyatt. Facts on File, 1998.
Feminine Focus: The New Women Playwrights. Enoch Brater, ed. Oxford University Press, 1989.
Feminism and Theatre. Sue-Ellen Case. Methuen, 1988.
Feminism, Bakhtin, and the Dialogic. Dale M. Bauer and Susan Jaret McKinstry, ed. State University of New York Press, 1988.
Feminist Theatre and Theory. Helene Keyssar, ed. St. Martin's, 1966.
Fifty More Contemporary One-Act Plays. Frank Shay. D. Appleton and Company, 1928.
The Folk Roots of Contemporary Afro-American Poetry. Bernard W. Bell. Broadside Press, 1974.
From Stereotype to Metaphor: The Jew in Contemporary Drama. Ellen Schiff. State University of New York Press, 1982.
From the Dark Tower: Afro-American Writers, 1900-1960.
Funnywomen: American Comediennes 1860-1985. Mary Unterbrink. McFarland and Co., 1987.
Give Us Each Day: The Diary of Alice Dunbar-Nelson. Gloria T. Hull (Ed.). W.W. Horton, 1984.
Great Women Writers: The Lives and Works of 135 of the World's Most Important Women Writers from Antiquity to the Present. Hale, 1994. Arthur P. Davis. Howard University Press, 1974.
A Guide to Critical Reviews: Part I: American Drama. James M. Salem. Scarecrow press, 1984.
Hansberry's Drama: Committment Amid Complexity. Steven R. Carter. University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: 100 Black Women Writers. Lorraine E. Roses and Ruth E. Randolph (Eds.). Harvard University Press, 1997 (paperback reprint).
Hollywood Baby Boomers. James Robert Parrish and Don Stanler. Garland, 1992.
Ijala: Sonia Sanchez and the African Poetic Tradition. Joyce Ann Joyce. Third World Press, 1996.

In Memory and Spirit of Frances, Zora, and Lorraine: Essays and Interviews on Black Women and Writing. Juliette Bowles, ed. Howard University, 1979.
International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers v.3 Amy L. Unterburger, editor. St. James Press, 1997.
In the Vernacular: Interviews at Yale with Sculptures of Culture. Melissa Biggs, ed. McFarland & Co., 1991.
Intersecting Boundaries: The Theatre of Adrienne Kennedy. Paul K. Bryant-Jackson. University of Minnesota Press, 1992.
Interviews with Contemporary Women Playwrights. Kathleen Besko and Rachel Koenig. Beech Tree Books, 1987.
The Jumping-off Place: American Drama in the 1960s: From Broadway to Off-Off Broadway to Happenings. Gerald Weales. Macmillan, 1969.
Kunta Drama: Plays of the African Continuum. Paul Carter Harrison (Ed). Grove Press, 1973.
Literature for Today's Young Adults. Kenneth L. Donelson and Allan Pace Nilson. Scott, Foresman, 1980.
Living Black American Authors: A Biographical Directory. Ann Allen Shockley and Sue P. Chandler. R. R. Bowker, 1973.
Lorraine Hansberry. Anne Cheney. Twayne Publishers, 1984.
Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words (To Be Young, Gifted, and Black). Lorraine Hansberry. Vintage Books, 1995.
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Major Twentieth Century Writers: A Selection of Sketches from Contemporary Authors. Gale Research, 1991.
Making a Spectacle: Feminist Essays on Contemporary Women's Theatre. Lynda Hart, ed. University of Michigan Press, 1989.
Mammies No More: The Changing Image of Black Women on Stage and Screen. Lisa M. Anderson. Rowman and Littlefield. 1997.
Masterpieces of African-American Literature. Frank Magill (Ed). HarperCollins, 1992.
Masterplots II - African American Literature Series. Frank Magill (Ed). Salem Press, 1994.
Modern American Drama: The Female Canon. June Schlueter, ed. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990.
Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays. Donald B. Gibson (Ed). Prentice-Hall, 1973.
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Modern Drama: The Female Canon. June Schlueter. Farleigh Dickenson University, 1990.
Moon Marked and Touched by Sun. Sydne Mahone. Theatre Communications Group, 1994.
Negro Author, HIs Development in America to 1900. Vernon Loggins. Kennikat Press, 1964.
The Negro Genius. Benjamin G. Brawley. Dodd, Mead, 1937.
Negro History in Thirteen Plays. Willis Richardson and May Miller. Associated Publishers, 1933.
The Negro in Literature and Art. Benjamin G. Brawley. Duffield and Company, 1930.
Negro Playwrights in the American Theatre, 1925-195. Doris Abramson. Columbia University Press, 1969.
Negro Poets and Their Poems. Robert T. Kerlin. Associated Publisher, 1923.
New Black Playwrights. William Couch, Jr. (Ed). Louisiana State University Press, 1968.
New Plays for the Black Theatre. Woodie King, Jr. (Ed). Third World Press, 1989.
Newsmakers v.3. Gale Research, 1993.
The New Women's Theatre: Ten Plays by Contemporary American Women. Honor Moore. Vintae Books, 1977.
Nine Plays by Black Women. Margaret B. Wilkerson. New American Library, 1986.
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Notable Black American Women Books I-II. Jessie Carney Smith (Ed). Gale, 1996.
Notable Women in American Theatre: A Biographical Dictionary. Alice Robinson, Vera M. Roberts, and Milly Barranger, eds. Greenwood, 1989.
Ntozake Shange: A Critical Study of the Plays. Neal A. Lester. Garland Publishing Inc., 1995.
1001 Things Everyone Should Know about African American History. Jeffrey C. Stewart. Doubleday, 1996.
Oxford Companion to African American Literature. William L. Andrews et al. (Eds). Oxford University Press, 1997.
Oxford Companion to Women's Writings in the United States. Cathy N. Davidson and Linda Wagner-Martin (Eds.). Oxford University Press, 1995.
People Who Led to My Plays. Adrienne Kennedy. Knopf, 1987.
Plays of Negro Life. Alain LeRoy Locke and Montgomery Gregory (Eds). Harper, 1927.
The Playwright's Art: Conversations iwth Contemporary American Dramatists. Jackson Bryer, ed. Rutgers University Press, 1995.
Reading Black, Reading Feminist. Henry L. Gates, Jr., ed. Meridian, 1990.
Reference Library of Black America. L. Mpho Mabunda (Ed.). Gale Resarch, 1997.
Render Me My Song: African-American Women Writers From Slavery to the Present. Sandi Russell. St. Martin's Press, 1990.
Roots of African-American Drama. L. Hamalian and J. V. Hatch. Wayne State University Press, 1991.
[Top][F][M]

The Second Harlem Renaissance: Essays in Black Criticism. C. W. E. Bigsby (Ed). Greenwood Press, 1980.
See No Evil: Prefaces, Essays & Accounts. Ntozake Shange. Momo's Press, 1983.
Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance. Maureen Honey, ed. Rutgers University Press, 1989.
Speaking on Stage: Interviews with Contemporary American Playwrights. Philip C. Kolin and Colby H. Kullman, eds. University of Alabama, 1996.
Stages: The Fifty-Year Childhood of the American Theatre. Emory Lewis. Prentice-Hall, 1969.
Staging Difference: Cultural Pluralism in American Theatre and Drama. Marc Maufort. Peter Lang, 1995.
Studies in Black Literature. Department of English, Mary Washington College, 1923.
Teaching American Ethnic Literatures: Nineteen Essays. John R. Maitino and David R. Peck, eds. University of New Mexico Press, 1996.
Theatre and Feminist Aesthetics. Karen Laughlin and Catherine Schuler, eds. Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1995.
Theatre at the Crossroads: Plays and Playwrights of the Mid-Century American Stage. John Gassner. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960.
Their Place on the Stage: Black Women Playwrights in America. Elizabeth Brown-Guillory. Greenwood Press, 1988.
They Found a Way: Lorraine Hansberry. Catherine Scheader. Children's Press, 1978.
To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words. Lorraine Hansberry. New American Library, 1987.
Twentieth Century American Dramatists. John MacNicholas (Ed.). Gale Research, 1981.
Understanding Contemporary American Drama. William Herman. University of South Carolina Press, 1987.
Uneasy Stages: A Chronicle of the New York Theatre, 1963-1973. John Simon. Random House, 1975.
Voices of the Black Theatre. Loften Mitchell (Ed). James White, 1975.
We a BaddDDD People. Sonia Sanchez (Ed). Broadside Press, 1970.
Whoopi Goldberg: Her Journey from Poverty to Megastardom. James Parrish. Birch Lane Press, 1997.
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Works of Lorraine Hansberry: A Critical Commentary. Elizabeth C. Phillips. Monarch Press, 1973.

This site Female Identity in Twentieth-Century African-American Plays consists of an annotated bibliography of plays and critical works.

Jazz Note # 2: At Alvins, The Carter Brothers

On Feb 2nd, I went to Alvin's to hear the musical reunion of the Carter Brothers. Robert, Kevin and James Carter with Michael Cassem, Michael Evans and George 'Bubba' scales played a couple of sets that included jazz, funk and r & b. There was also a jam session that included the vocalist Ping and Gwen Laster on violin. In between sets, James sat at my table and I learned that he would be leaving to tour on the 6th. I picked up one of his broken reeds, joked that I would wear it in my hair as a talisman and we had a good laugh. James' tour schedule can be found at http://www.aiartists.com/jcarter/index3.HTML

Robert Carter's performance schedule and video clips can be found on his facebook page:
http://touch.facebook.com/#Carterian?w2m

Kevin Carter's performance schedule and photos can be found on s
his facebook page as well: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61056208

Jazz Note # 1: Aurora n In The Tradition Jazz Band's New Cd; Track 9 Yurugu

I received a call from Olujimi. During our conversation, he informed me that jazz trumpeter Clark Terry won a Grammy the other night. Therefore, I will begin today's notes by saying, "Congratulations Clark Terry!" More about the great news can be found at http://www.clarkterry.com/

Clark Terry is the uncle of trumpeter Charles Hopkins, who is a member of the In The Tradition Jazz Band and appears on the new CD, "The Tradition Continues!" (I appear on Track 9 as the Spoken Word Artist who wrote and performed the poem "Yurugu" as a co-composer with Olujimi Tafataona).

Olujimi also informed me a few minutes ago, that he spoke with a DJ in New Orleans at WWOZ 90.7 FM and the cd "The Tradition Continues" is getting airplay. The cd has been sent to over 50 radio stations in the U.S.A and abroad. Many of them are college or independent radio stations. I'm really happy to hear that folks around the world have a chance to listen to the latest jazz release from a Detroit band!